The multimillionaire City minister Lord Myners has criticised his former colleagues in the Square Mile for their greed and obsession with money.

The former Marks & Spencer's chairman was brought into the Government last year to help rescue the banking system and clean up the City, but came under pressure to quit after he allowed the Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive, Sir Fred Goodwin, to leave the troubled bank with a £16.9m pension.

Lord Myners said he was "increasingly exercised and concerned with the fact we have compromised our lives". He added: "This is very evident in the financial community – that money has become everything. The absence of clear moral purpose is something that is very troubling."